Unified Communications: Definition, Benefits, and More

Whether your business consists of a single brick-and-mortar store, thousands of locations across the country, or an ecommerce storefront with an entirely remote workforce, how your employees communicate with each other and your customers significantly impacts your success. Without the right communication or collaboration tools in place, staff from one team or location may not know what another is doing or how their efforts affect each other or the business.

That’s where unified communications comes into play. Unified communications solutions allow your employees to share information and work together more easily, helping your business become more productive and deliver more effective results. Understanding the components of unified communications, the benefits it offers, and how best to implement it into your business will help improve your company’s communication and collaboration, which in turn can help drive efficiency and revenue.

What are unified communications?

In the simplest of terms, unified communications (UC) allow organizations to integrate and manage multiple communication tools and services through one platform. A unified communications system can connect different business communication channels, such as voice, text, video, and more, making it easier for your employees to work together and share information. Users can switch seamlessly between different modes of communication through one platform without needing to use different devices or tools. For example, your sales agent may start a conversation over text or instant messaging and want to switch to a voice or video call. When using a UC platform, your sales agent can do this in just a few clicks without opening other applications.

Putting a unified communications platform in place can enhance collaboration among team members, across departments, or even between multiple offices or locations, including those in the back office or field. Its flexibility makes it ideal for modern businesses with remote workers. With improved communications through UC, your company can make more effective decisions faster—delivering better performance and cost-savings at the same time.

Unified communications help businesses enhance productivity and the user experience, regardless of the industry or field. Take the auto industry, for instance. UC collaboration tools help bring operational, customer, and inventory data together to maximize sales while decreasing the time vehicles spend on the lot. The collaborative environment results in greater productivity and revenue. UC also helps healthcare and wellness companies manage care and improve patient outcomes by connecting information across networks and devices so staff can make well-informed decisions.

4 Components of Unified Communications

Unified communications connect both real-time and asynchronous communications. Your organization can use and switch communication tools as needed, without any hassle. Common components of a unified communications system include:

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a cloud-based phone system that uses an internet connection to make or receive voice calls and voicemail through one dialpad instead of a traditional method through a telephone company. VoIP is a popular business phone system because it offers companies cost savings and can operate on desk phones, mobile phones, and computers connected to the internet.

With a VoIP business phone system, all call details are organized through one inbox, making it easy for employees to stay on top of information and not miss opportunities. Integrating your VoIP system with other communication tools through a UC platform combines information from phone calls with other communications data, giving your staff a more complete view of workplace or customer conversations.

Instant Messaging

Forms of asynchronous text-based messaging, such as website-based persistent chats (including chatbots), messaging apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams, SMS messages, and emails are a great way for your employees to connect with one another and communicate with customers. Whether you’re using instant messaging to develop your next marketing campaign or answer customer questions through text messages, there’s valuable information in each conversation.

A unified communications platform allows your team to store and organize instant messaging data, along with keeping track of additional information from phone calls and other communication types, so they can gain insights and improve operational workflows. For example, a local gutter company could view its customer texts alongside summaries from past phone conversations and the dates of any services rendered to enhance its communication efforts.

Video Conferencing

Whether you need to bring nationwide employees together or want to enhance a one-on-one conversation through video instead of a voice-based call, video conferencing tools get the job done. UC systems not only contain video conferencing capabilities but can also automatically generate transcripts of your conversations, with some offering summaries for future reference. Unified communications’ omnichannel nature not only enhances collaboration in everyday workflows but also provides additional knowledge that employees can access for other professional means.

File Sharing

When you’re working in a collaborative environment, that often means sharing files between departments and teams. That’s why file sharing is a key component of unified communications systems. UC platforms allow users to easily request and share files seamlessly. UC reduces friction and cuts down on lost time since employees won’t have to check their emails or team messaging apps for requests or locate the files in a separate platform before sharing them with others.

6 Benefits of Unified Communications

With unified communications, your employees can communicate with one another and your customers instantaneously. UC systems offers many benefits, but more specifically, UC can help:

Facilitate Better Team Collaboration

UC enhances collaboration among team members in several ways. First, it allows employees to communicate with each other through their preferred channels, as they’re all integrated and accessible through the UC platform. Second, it allows employees to connect no matter where they’re working or what device they’re using, making it much easier to communicate and share information with other teammates.

Improve Customer Service

UC platforms benefit internal business communications and positively impact how your company provides customer service. For example, a unified communications tool for an electronics company allows customer service representatives to start an interaction over website chat or social media and then seamlessly move the conversation to text or a VoIP call. Plus, your rep will have access to a customer’s information, which they can use to personalize their support and offer more effective solutions.

Connect Remote Employees

Remote employees are often limited in how they can interact and collaborate with others. Unified communications offers the tools and applications needed to bridge the gap between remote workers, offering features like screen sharing that make it easier for them to connect and work together more consistently, no matter their location.

Facilitate Decision-Making

UC takes the guesswork out of your decision-making, providing your business with more data and a complete picture of where you stand. You’ll be able to quickly generate insights and feel assured that you’re making the right decision based on the information available.

Reduce Costs

Incorporating unified communications can help you find and eliminate redundancies in your communications efforts, helping to save you money. You’ll also see cost savings from UC’s ability to enhance team collaboration and increase productivity.

Improve Existing Processes

When all your communication tools and applications are on a single platform, you can evaluate and streamline your existing efforts. This step improves the employee experience and allows your team to provide consistent customer communications and support. All that leads to increased customer satisfaction.

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)

Traditional UC systems use on-premise servers and software to integrate and manage communications. With technological advancements, the same services and benefits can now be accessed through the cloud from unified communications as a service (UCaaS) providers. A cloud-based UC system is often easier to implement for many businesses and offers additional benefits, such as:

Reduced IT Overhead

With cloud-based UCaaS, your company won’t have to purchase, install, or maintain any hardware or software. The reduced reliance on infrastructure and IT management translates into lower overhead costs for your collaboration tools and business.

Improved Scalability

Cloud-based UCaaS are easy to scale up or down as your business needs, so you’re never paying for more services than you’re using or working at a reduced capacity while waiting for system upgrades. You can choose individual VoIP or video conferencing services, or a full package that offers both voice and video calls.

Enhanced Security

UCaaS providers (including RingCentral, Vonage, WebEx, and other PBX systems) offer data encryption to keep customer and business data secure, which is essential for companies with remote workers or multiple locations. Cloud-based UC systems can also manage access to information on your communications platform through verified permission and help manage outside threats.

Implementing UC in Your Business with Podium

Before implementing any UC system into your business, you’ll first need to assess your current communications tools, technical experience, and budget. You’ll want to ensure the platform you choose is user-friendly for your employees, offers your required collaboration tools, and is within your company’s budget. Doing this will help you avoid pitfalls, such as users lacking the tech skills to operate the system after implementation.

A great UC solution to consider is Podium. Podium’s omnichannel messaging and communication platform unifies business communications. It integrates social and instant messaging, chats, texts, VoIP phone calls, and more in one place, increasing collaboration and enhancing the customer experience for more sales. Watch a demo to learn how Podium can help grow your business.